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Monday, September 27, 2010

Yes, I know. Speeches just don't cut it these days. But even if sitting down and listening to Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor speech after dinner doesn't quite appeal, maybe Nixon's Checkers speech would perk you up after a hard day's work. Or Walter Payton's Hall of Fame speech. Find these and about 5000 others at AmericanRhetoric.com, the creation of Michael Eidenmuller. For many of the 20th century speeches, audio and video are available in addition to the text. (The video of Socrates' Apology is inexplicably absent.) Website design is perhaps not Prof. Eidenmuller's specialty, but looks and bells and whistles aside, this is a great web site for finding inspirational and historically significant speeches--and just browsing for fun. The speeches are arranged alphabetically (by first name!) and in some special topics like 9/11, Obama and Top 100. There is also a section of movie speeches where you will find speeches by movie title. And students, remember: speeches are primary sources!--RL